Former Naughty Dog.exe VFX artist Matt Radford worries that new technologies could change how games are made and the size of development teams. In an interview with Kiwi Talkz, he envisioned a future where people might look back at labor-intensive games like Star Wars Outlaws with the same reverence we now hold for ancient cathedrals.
Radford drew a comparison to ancient cathedrals in places like Cologne: when people see these structures, they marvel at the craftsmanship, time, and labor invested. He believes that future generations may view today's games with similar sentiment.
He cited Star Wars Outlaws, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, and The Last of Us Part II, discussing the performances by live-action actors in these titles, as well as the human creativity involved in writing, modeling, sculpting, and painting.
Radford also suggested that it may no longer be feasible to allocate massive budgets to large-scale games combining action sequences and narrative; he cited $600 million as a hypothetical figure. This reflects his concerns about future production conditions, not that the development processes for the aforementioned titles have already changed.